The invention relates to a navigation system for vehicles, in which position data such as destination, transit point, present position, etc. are input and stored, and the stored position data is read and used for example, to set a destination, to pinpoint a stored position using street information, to display a street selected by a user adequately on a screen, and to store a position or a point, among other functions.
In a navigation system for vehicles used on a vehicle such as an automobile for providing route guidance, it is general practice to store a position such as a destination, a transit point, a facility to be observed, etc. in advance, and this stored data is used to set a destination or for other purposes.
For example, when a guidance screen of a navigation system is displayed, the cursor is moved on the screen using a remote control device, and when the cursor comes to a waypoint, the input instruction key is operated. Then, a mode option such as destination, transit point, waypoint and present position are displayed as shown in FIG. 1. When the waypoint is selected, a facility, which is at the position nearest to cross cursor is located. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the name of the facility "ABC" is displayed together with a waypoint storage number, mark, telephone number, etc. When the waypoint button is pressed, the facility is entered and stored as a waypoint. The stored position can now be displayed in the list. For example, a list can be displayed as shown in FIG. 2, and when the destination button is pressed, the waypoint is set as the destination.
In the storage of a waypoint as described above, a facility is located whose central coordinates are nearest to the waypoint, and the name of the facility is then entered and stored. Accordingly, it is probable that a name of a facility considerably far from and having no relation to the waypoint, may be stored, and it may be difficult to find the position of the waypoint from the facility's name in such case.
Also, a street name may be used to input a destination, present position, etc. because a street name is generally used to indicate an address or location in Europe and America, for example. If a street name is input and a road map is displayed on the guidance screen, a map of the vicinity of the location is displayed by aligning a representative point of the input street, e.g., the center of the street, with the center of the screen.
However, streets vary in length. When the vicinity of a street is displayed by aligning the representative point with the center of the screen, the desired position, street, etc. may be off the screen, making it difficult for the driver to reach the destination.
The objects of the invention are: 1) to pinpoint the position of a waypoint in the waypoint storage; 2) to correctly display a street on the guidance screen regardless of street length; 3) to clearly identify the desired street and to display the address.